Paycheck Calculator

You're negotiating a salary and you want to estimate what your actual take-home will be — not the offer letter number, but the dollars that show up in your account every two weeks. Federal income tax, FICA, state tax, health insurance premiums, and 401(k) contributions all chip away at gross pay, and the order they're applied affects the result.

The calculator uses current federal brackets, the standard FICA rates (6.2% Social Security up to the wage base, 1.45% Medicare with no cap, plus 0.9% additional Medicare above $200K single), and lets you input state percentage and pre/post-tax deductions. The output is an estimate — your actual paycheck depends on your withholding allowances, supplemental income, and any tax credits — but it's close enough to evaluate an offer or budget against.

The order of operations: start with gross. Subtract pre-tax deductions (traditional 401(k), HSA contributions, some health premiums) to get federal taxable income. Apply federal tax brackets progressively (10% on the first chunk, 12% on the next, 22% above that, and so on). Subtract FICA: 6.2% Social Security on wages up to the annual wage base ($168,600 for 2026 if it follows the typical adjustment), then 1.45% Medicare on everything (no cap), plus 0.9% additional Medicare above $200K for single filers. Apply state tax (your effective rate). Subtract post-tax deductions (Roth 401(k), some insurance premiums, garnishments). What's left is your net paycheck, divided by pay periods to get the per-paycheck amount.

A worked example: $100,000 salary, single filer in a 5% state, $5,000 traditional 401(k), no other deductions. Federal taxable: $95,000. Federal tax (2026 brackets, approximate): 10% on $11,600 + 12% on next $35,550 + 22% on $53,375 + 24% on remaining ~$0 = roughly $16,400. FICA: 6.2% × $100K = $6,200 SS + 1.45% × $100K = $1,450 Medicare = $7,650. State: 5% × $95,000 = $4,750. Total deductions: $16,400 + $7,650 + $4,750 + $5,000 (401k) = $33,800. Net annual: $66,200. Per paycheck biweekly: $66,200 / 26 ≈ $2,545.

Where the estimate diverges from your actual paycheck: your W-4 settings affect withholding more than tax-table reading suggests. If your W-4 doesn't reflect your actual situation (you didn't update after marriage, kids, or a side job), withholding can over or under-collect by significant amounts that don't match the calculator. State and local taxes vary wildly — Texas has zero state tax, NYC has city tax stacked on state tax. Pre-tax health insurance premiums, parking, transit benefits, and dependent care FSA contributions all reduce taxable income further if you take them. The calculator handles the typical case; if your situation is unusual (multiple jobs, large bonus, equity vesting), the rough estimate may be off by 5-15%. Use it for offer evaluation, not for tax preparation.